Texas Disability History Collection

Jim Hayes (1949-2008) injured his spinal cord at the age of 18.  He became the first student with a spinal cord injury to live on The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) campus.  Hayes was the president of the Handicapped Student Association.  He founded the Adaptive Resource Center on campus, which is a testing center for students with disabilities.  He graduated with a degree in history in 1974 and promptly began his professional career with the campus.  Hayes was affiliated with UTA for 30 years where he worked to make all UTA buildings wheelchair-accessible.  In 1976 he helped found the Office for Students with Disabilities of which he was the Director. He formed wheelchair basketball and tennis teams.  He challenged UTA’s top officials to live in a wheelchair as he did; the experiences led to disability accessibility at UTA.  Hayes later served as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Coordinator of compliance for UTA.   In 1984 Hayes won a Paralympic Games gold medal as a wheelchair road racer; he was affiliated with the National Wheelchair Veteran Games where he volunteered countless hours.  In 1986 he wheeled 205 miles in 25 hours to earn $15,000 for the Helping Restore Ability organization.  He created the Movin’ Mavs wheelchair basketball team in 1989 and under his leadership as head coach, the team won seven National Wheelchair Basketball Association Championship titles.  Jim Hayes was honored in October 2000 with the Man of the Year award by the Helping Restore Ability organization.